IRELAND
Irish Independent
By Colm Kelpie
Monday June 18 2012
POPE Benedict yesterday claimed the explanation for the clerical abuse of children remained a “mystery” and added that the scandals had undermined the church’s message.
But the Pontiff did not directly engage with abuse survivors in his much-anticipated pre-recorded video address to Irish Catholics at the close of the Eucharistic Congress.
Nor did he reiterate the apology offered in his pastoral letter, which was issued in March 2010.
In a message to tens of thousands of people in Dublin’s Croke Park, 120 words out of the 1,167 that made up the address were devoted to the clerical abuse issue.
Pilgrims greeted the message with three rounds of applause and a standing ovation.
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